Interesting Facts & Useless Trivia
Tonight’s feature presentation, Quentin Tarantino’s, Pulp Fiction, was released in the US in October of 1994, making this the 25th anniversary year. It debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May of that year & actually opened in South Korea, Japan & Slovakia before the US. The film had a budget of just $8.5M, with more than $5 of that going to actor salaries, but it would go on to make more than $250m over the course of it’s theatrical run. Tarantino wrote parts with particular actors in mind, including Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth & Amanda Plummer. Butch, the part eventually played by Bruce Willis, was originally written as a younger up & coming boxer with Matt Dillon playing the role. He took too long deciding to take the part & Willis stepped in after he was passed over for the part of Vincent. Michael Madsen, Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs, was supposed to play Vincent (who is actually Vic Vega, Mr. Blonde’s brother), but he chose to take a part in Wyatt Earp instead. Daniel Day-Lewis was then offered the part & actively pursued it, but Tarantino finally offered the role to Travolta, who accepted just $150,000 for the part. At the time, Travolta was persona no grata in Hollywood after a string of flops, including The Experts, Chains of Gold, Eyes of an Angel & Shout. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role, revitalizing his career & producing one of 7 overall nominations for the film. The part of Mia Wallace was shopped all over Hollywood, with Issabella Rossilini, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Joan Cusack & Tarantino’s choice, Michelle Pfeiffer, all offered the part. Uma Thurman, who would go onto star in the Kill Bill films with Tarantino grabbed the part when offered & also received an Oscar nomination.
Pulp Fiction was the #10 highest grossing film in ’94, but only the 3rd highest R rated film (True Lies 3 & Speed 8). It earned its R rating by utilizing “Fuck” an astonishing 265 times (Reservoir Dogs used it 269 times), although Tarantino still won the Oscar for best screenplay.
Tarantino admittedly borrows & pays homage to a variety of films & styles throughout the movie:
-Vince & Mia’s dance sequence is a pastiche from Fellini’s 1963 classic 8 1/2
-The novel Vincent takes to the bathroom on multiple occasions, Modesty Blaise, was itself a bit of pulp fiction modelled on a popular cartoon & spy spoof movie of the late ‘60’s.
-Jules wallet inscription “Bad Mother Fucker” is a line from the theme to Shaft & ironically was Tarantino’s actual wallet.
-The Mexican standoff in the final scene is a favorite of Tarantino’s, having successfully used it in Reservoir Dogs & later The Hateful Eight.
-The t-shirt Tarantino’s character Jimmy wears under his bathrobe features ‘Orby’ the mascot of Detroit’s own defunct culture magazine Orbit. The magazine had given Reservoir Dogs its first favorable cover story & Tarantino wanted to repay the favor. Sadly, Orbit went belly up in 1999.
-The needle scene was actually shot backwards & reversed in post-production
-Finally, Jules iconic bible verse from Ezekiel was actually made up by Tarantino, with only 2 lines taken from the bible.
From the twisted, non-linear mind of Quentin Tarantino, here is Pulp Fiction.
Tonight’s feature presentation, Quentin Tarantino’s, Pulp Fiction, was released in the US in October of 1994, making this the 25th anniversary year. It debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May of that year & actually opened in South Korea, Japan & Slovakia before the US. The film had a budget of just $8.5M, with more than $5 of that going to actor salaries, but it would go on to make more than $250m over the course of it’s theatrical run. Tarantino wrote parts with particular actors in mind, including Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth & Amanda Plummer. Butch, the part eventually played by Bruce Willis, was originally written as a younger up & coming boxer with Matt Dillon playing the role. He took too long deciding to take the part & Willis stepped in after he was passed over for the part of Vincent. Michael Madsen, Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs, was supposed to play Vincent (who is actually Vic Vega, Mr. Blonde’s brother), but he chose to take a part in Wyatt Earp instead. Daniel Day-Lewis was then offered the part & actively pursued it, but Tarantino finally offered the role to Travolta, who accepted just $150,000 for the part. At the time, Travolta was persona no grata in Hollywood after a string of flops, including The Experts, Chains of Gold, Eyes of an Angel & Shout. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role, revitalizing his career & producing one of 7 overall nominations for the film. The part of Mia Wallace was shopped all over Hollywood, with Issabella Rossilini, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Joan Cusack & Tarantino’s choice, Michelle Pfeiffer, all offered the part. Uma Thurman, who would go onto star in the Kill Bill films with Tarantino grabbed the part when offered & also received an Oscar nomination.
Pulp Fiction was the #10 highest grossing film in ’94, but only the 3rd highest R rated film (True Lies 3 & Speed 8). It earned its R rating by utilizing “Fuck” an astonishing 265 times (Reservoir Dogs used it 269 times), although Tarantino still won the Oscar for best screenplay.
Tarantino admittedly borrows & pays homage to a variety of films & styles throughout the movie:
-Vince & Mia’s dance sequence is a pastiche from Fellini’s 1963 classic 8 1/2
-The novel Vincent takes to the bathroom on multiple occasions, Modesty Blaise, was itself a bit of pulp fiction modelled on a popular cartoon & spy spoof movie of the late ‘60’s.
-Jules wallet inscription “Bad Mother Fucker” is a line from the theme to Shaft & ironically was Tarantino’s actual wallet.
-The Mexican standoff in the final scene is a favorite of Tarantino’s, having successfully used it in Reservoir Dogs & later The Hateful Eight.
-The t-shirt Tarantino’s character Jimmy wears under his bathrobe features ‘Orby’ the mascot of Detroit’s own defunct culture magazine Orbit. The magazine had given Reservoir Dogs its first favorable cover story & Tarantino wanted to repay the favor. Sadly, Orbit went belly up in 1999.
-The needle scene was actually shot backwards & reversed in post-production
-Finally, Jules iconic bible verse from Ezekiel was actually made up by Tarantino, with only 2 lines taken from the bible.
From the twisted, non-linear mind of Quentin Tarantino, here is Pulp Fiction.
